The world that had just survived a catastrophe was now changing under their hands. The Eternal Garden, a place created by Emiren and his allies, was no longer just a symbol of power and possibilities but a new space where they had to live with the consequences of their decisions.
Every corner of this reality now vibrated with different waves. Time, no longer linear, had become multidimensional. But this was just the beginning. They were entering an era where there was no clear boundary between the created and the uncreated, between life and oblivion.
Emiren stood on a hill, his gaze holding every movement in this new world. It was hard to understand where the new began and where the old ended. There was a moment when this balance seemed perfect, but now an incomprehensible emptiness had appeared. Perhaps it was a reflection of what had happened: they had the ability to create anything, but they had not accounted for the darker side of this gift.
Ardalys, standing nearby, quietly approached him, his gaze heavy with questions that refused to let him be.
— Do you feel this? — he asked, looking at the endless horizon where times and realities merged. — This hasn’t just changed. It’s… turned everything inside out.
Emiren didn’t answer right away. He felt uncertainty creeping deeper within him. The time they had once controlled was merely an illusion of stability. All these “victories” over the past, all these battles to create new pathways in time— it had all led to the inevitable.
— Yes, — he finally said. — We’ve become part of something larger than we could have imagined. And now we must learn to live with it.
Suddenly, from the dark sky, which was both clear and gloomy, a new figure appeared. Its silhouette was not entirely human, but at the same time very familiar. The Guardian emerged from nowhere, like a shadow breaking free from darkness, and its presence made even the earth beneath their feet tremble.
— Emiren, — it spoke, its voice deep and calm, yet there was something in it that made the heart beat faster. — You made your choice, and now you must face the consequences.
— We are ready, — Emiren replied, though his gaze was not as certain. — We understand what we’ve done.
The Guardian nodded, but its eyes shone with cold light.
— What you’ve created, — it said, — is not just a new reality. It’s an opportunity. And at the same time — it’s a threat.
Ardalys cast a quiet glance at Emiren. Something in these words unsettled him, even frightened him.
— A threat to what? — he asked.
— A threat to everything, — the Guardian answered. — Every new possibility you’ve created carries its price. And the time you so carefully tried to shape is starting to react. If you are not careful, it will tear you apart.
Emiren felt as though each word of the Guardian’s was a sentence. All his attempts to create a new era, a new form of time, now seemed like chaos, where everything might lose its stability.
— We can’t turn back, — he said, unsure of his own words. — But we can build something new.
— You must be ready to pay for your new reality, — the Guardian repeated. — Only when you understand how to live together with those you’ve brought into existence, will you be free. Otherwise, this world will destroy you.
With these words, the Guardian vanished, leaving them standing on the edge between the new world and the uncertainty of the future.
Emiren looked at Ardalys. Between them, silence hung, but there was something that connected them. It was the responsibility they could not escape. And now they had to do everything they could to save what they had created.
“Now the real battle begins,” Emiren thought. “And no choice will be easy.”